Football Kicking Drills

Often football games come down to the bitter end. It’s not uncommon for a game to be decided in the last few minutes and often the game comes down to a field goal. A made or a missed field anytime during a game could decide the outcome of that game. However, a made or a missed field goal near the end of the game will almost certainly mean the difference between losing and winning. Making field goals is very important to every team. So, football kicking drills that help a kicker improve are equally important.

No Step Kicking

Proper body position and technique are critical in kicking the ball for distance. In order to build-up strength and develop proper form, all kickers should perform No Step Kicking as one of their football kicking drills.

As the name suggests, this drill simply asks a kicker to kick the ball without running up to it. The kicker should just stand over the ball, with the plant foot (non-kicking foot) a football‘s length from the ball and the toe even with the ball. Then the kicker should kick the ball. The toes on the plant foot need to be even with the ball so that the drill will work properly. Obviously a kicker doesn’t want to plant his/her foot here when actually kicking field goals.

At first the ball will not fly very far. However, the kicker should concentrate on proper body position, proper contact, and proper follow through and slowly the kicks will get better. The kicker will also notice a difference in accuracy and length after leaving the drill to kick actual field goals.

One Step Kicking

This drill builds from the other drill but the kicker takes one step.

To start this drill the kicker should kick a regular field goal. Then he should see where his last step, just before kicking the ball, was from. That should be where each subsequent kick begins. From that spot the kicker should take a step and kick the ball while concentrating on all the same things as in the One Step Kicking Drill.

Across the Field Kicking

Most kickers don’t aim to put the ball between the uprights, they actually aim to kick the ball on an imaginary line. That’s why Across the Field Kicking is another one of the great football kicking drills.

For this drill, the kicker kicks the balls across the field from sideline to sideline. The kicker will place the ball on a line (a tee or a holder can be used). Then the kicker will try to kick the ball (in the air) across the field while keeping it even with the line where the ball was originally placed.

Bad Hold Kicking

Inevitably something will go wrong when kicking one or more extra points and field goals. Either there will be a bad snap or a bobble by the holder that results in a bad hold. For these times, there is a football kicking drill that can be practiced.

For the Bad Hold Kicking Drill, the kicker uses a tee and practices kicking the ball from several different odd positions. This will give the kicker some idea where and how to kick a ball when the hold is bad.

In the End All That Counts

Kickers have to be mentally tough because of the pressure they are put under at the end of games. A kicker often sits for most of a game and is then asked to win the game for the team. If the kicker is mentally strong and he practices the right football kicking drills then he should be able to nail that game-winning field goal.

Coach Tucker is dedicated to seeing his teams succeed in the classroom and on the football field. He shares his love of the game (along with many other football kicking drills) for free on this website: